Russian Sukhoi Su-34 crashed into a residential apartment in the southwestern city of Yeysk in Russia leading to 13 deaths including civilians amidst the rising tension in the Russia-Ukraine war.
Among those dead were three children as Russian authorities report after calling an end to the search operation. The city of Yeysk is close to the borders of Ukraine.
The incident occurred late on Monday evening, the video of which has immensely gone viral showing a Soviet-era designed nine-story building under massive flames.
The apartment houses around 600 people. Based on the reports the aircraft’s fuel caught fire leading to the crash. The blaze spread over five floors of the building, covering 2,000 square meters (21,500 square feet), the ministry of emergency situations said.
Watch Here:
Russia’s Yeysk.
— Illia Ponomarenko 🇺🇦 (@IAPonomarenko) October 17, 2022
A military aircraft just crashed into a huge residential block. pic.twitter.com/s9WXMyFEIv
In a separate visual which is being immensely shared on social media shows the plane moments before the crash as massive flames erupts from the building right after the collision.
Moment of the Russian Su-34 crash in Yeysk pic.twitter.com/V0bKAH1FXk
— Special Kherson Cat 🐈🇺🇦 (@bayraktar_1love) October 17, 2022
The ministry officials have informed pilots were successfully able to eject right before the crash, images of which have also gone viral on social media.
In the detailed briefing, the ministry informed that the plane crashed after taking off to carry out a training flight from the military airfield. It added that the military jet had malfunctioned after “one of its engines caught fire during take-off”.
The local administration is looking after the victim’s grievances and said through the press briefing that all sorts of possible assistance will be provided until the new apartments are not being provided to those affected by the crash.
After a massive struggle, the fire was brought under control. Russia’s investigative committee, which looks into serious crimes, said it had opened a criminal investigation into the crash.
News surfacing has detailed that right from the beginning of Russia’s offense the airspace around the South of Russia has been closed and the town where the crash took place, shares a border with the Ukrainian city of Mariupol.
Which Russia brought under its control after persistent bombardments and long sieges. The areas have been cordoned off owing to security measures and the authorities will launch an investigation into detail further.
A resident while talking to the press said, “I’m in shock obviously. My child was alone at home. We already used to go to sleep with fear every day Mariupol is just across from us,” referring to the nearby Ukrainian port besieged earlier this year by Russian forces.
The accidents associated with Russian civilian aircraft and fighter planes come in the news usually and are fairly common due to technical malfunction, and human error.
One similar incident came to light back in June when a military plane crashed in the city of Ryazan leading to the death of four people besides, injuring five others.